Free agency is under a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. Even with the UFA crop being thinned out in recent months, there will be some quality veterans set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Penguins.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Egor Chinakhov – The polarizing forward immediately found new life in Pittsburgh after a December trade from Columbus, leaving him in a fascinating position this summer which already raises questions on what comes next. Shooting at 17%, there’s uncertainty on what is truly sustainable for the 25-year-old, who also went scoreless in the playoffs. Still, Chinakhov’s 18 tallies with the Penguins would rank seventh on the team, and he did so in just 43 games, with another 18 assists for 36 points. Best case for Pittsburgh is a one-year deal worth somewhere around the $3.5MM range, such that they’ll retain his restricted free agent status next year, by then able to make a safer bet on a long-term contract. It might not be that easy though, as the Russian has arbitration rights and will look for more security, and closer to $5MM, after rewarding the team with his play.
G Arturs Silovs – Another 25-year-old who made the most of a fresh start with the Penguins, the netminder played in 39 games, more than doubling his usage from 2022-25 combined with the Canucks. Silovs’ -11.9 goals saved-above-expected wasn’t glowing, paired with a 3.04 goals-against-average and .888 save percentage. A great stretch in the playoffs helped, proving his worth as a worthy pairing to the rising 22-year-old Sergei Murashov, with a nice balance of youth and untapped potential to fit in general manager Kyle Dubas‘ efforts to get younger. The Calder Cup champion would command a nice raise from his past $850k into a one-year deal worth around $1.8MM, which would allow them to put Stuart Skinner‘s hypothetical dollars elsewhere, but either way Dubas faces a decision between him or Silovs.
Other RFAs: F Ville Koivunen, D Alexander Alexeyev, G Joel Blomqvist, F Vasili Ponomarev, F Oliver Okuliar, G Filip Lindberg
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Anthony Mantha – It’s not often that a playoff team’s leading goal scorer walks away so decisively, but as things stand that might be the case with the 31-year-old whose 33 regular season tallies were best on the Pens. It was tremendous production considering his $2.5MM value, not expected to be much more than a middle-six depth scorer. Things weren’t so easy in the playoffs though, coming away with just one assist in six games which plays a part in his status today. Even with ample cap room, the power forward’s market value in one of the weakest free agent classes in recent memory is one that Dubas seems to be wary of. Another team could come calling with a deal taking him past age 35, worth over $6MM per season. It would be a big gamble, but Mantha has all the tools to put together a few more 25-goal campaigns, a player long thought to be capable of more than what he offered as a Red Wing or Capital.
G Stuart Skinner – Even if Dubas and the Penguins send Skinner on his way, walking for nothing in return, there’s little doubt who won the December trade with Edmonton, swapping him and Tristian Jarry. That wasn’t because the Edmonton native caught fire though; his stats regressed in Pittsburgh to a 2.99 goals-against-average and 8.3 goals saved-above-expected. As they have Murashov coming along, no long-term commitment makes sense, and as outlined above, Silovs’ slight edge in age could be favorable as well. Either way, veteran free agent counterparts such as Sergei Bobrovsky and Frederik Andersen have concerns of their own, while Skinner at 27-years-old stands out on the market. With his $2.6MM now off the books, the 6’4″ 2023 NHL All Star could get a deal similar to Petr Mrázek‘s past two-year, $4.25MM AAV agreement with Chicago, if not more term considering his younger age.
D Ryan Shea – Like many others preparing for July 1, the 29-year-old picked a great time to have a career year. In 80 games, Shea notched 35 points on 18:53 of usage. It’s production nobody would have expected from a player who had never played in more than 39 games in an NHL season, with six total points in his career prior to 2025-26. The 6’1″ lefty saw a nice jump of zone starts on the attack, up to 47.6%, an effective pairing alongside fellow UFA Connor Clifton. The duo’s efforts helped free up Erik Karlsson on his bounce back season. AFP Analytics predicts that Shea could command four years at $4.36MM per season, true top-four level. Already with fellow lefties Parker Wortherspoon and Samuel Girard in the mix, it won’t be easy, with Dubas wishing Ryan Graves‘ $4.5M AAV wasn’t a factor.
F Noel Acciari – The 34-year-old rounds out the group of “notables” over Shea’s sidekick outlined above, as he put together his second-best season as an 11-year-pro. In his third campaign with Pittsburgh, the Rhode Island native scored 13 goals with 12 helpers in 67 games. All of that came from starting an insane 84.9% of his work in his own end. Following Dubas along as a free agent from Toronto three years ago, with a three-year contract worth $2MM per, another two-year pact with around the same value is doable this summer. Pittsburgh could benefit from turning his role over to a younger player, and if so, any playoff contender would love to staple Acciari to their fourth line.
Other UFAs: D Connor Clifton, F Kevin Hayes, F Bokondji Imama, D Sebastian Aho (Sweden), F Rafael Harvey-Pinard, G Taylor Gauthier (Group 6), F Joona Koppanen
The Penguins have $37MM of cap room to work with this off-season, good for fifth-best in the NHL. Depending on what happens with Mantha and Shea, two key faces from 2025-26, there’s plenty of room to either retain them or explore upgrades who’d be less risky to hand a big ticket. A high-end top four defenseman would go a long way, as well as another top six center. There’s always the draw of going big for one last run with Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, and Evgeni Malkin, who himself avoided making this list with his one-year extension inked in late May which very well could be the swan song. Regardless, Dubas has been disciplined in long-term interests for the Penguins, and that’ll remain the case in the coming weeks.
Image Credit: Philip G. Pavely-Imagn Images (Chinakhov), Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images (Skinner)